27 years
I have mouth ulcers since 3 days and its painful. What should I use to remove it?
Aug 7, 2014
These lesions are at any age and in either sex. Young adults are slightly more commonly affected than most other groups, with a female preponderance.
Recurrent aphthous ulcerations are not contagious. It is not uncommon to confuse it with herpes. Till this day, however, evidence has indicated that this is not related to any viral, bacterial or fungal infection. The most likely and valid explanation is that aphthous ulcers are a type of unusual allergic reaction. In the case of recurrent aphthous ulcerations, however, instead of being allergic to, say, strawberries or seafood, the body is sort of allergic to itself, what we call an auto-immune reaction (auto- against self, immune for the immune system). In other words, the immune system, which normally protects the body by destroying invading organisms, gets confused and actually starts attacking the lining tissues of the body itself. The triggers for this unusual reaction have not yet been elucidated, although some patients can relate the onset of the lesions to such things as stress, minor injury to the lining of the mouth, or the menstrual cycle.
The diagnosis of recurrent aphthous ulcerations is on the basis of the appearance and location of the sores, and the recurrent episodes. In most cases, biopsies, blood tests and cultures for microorganisms are not helpful. Aphthous ulcers have a few variations that you should know about, although these are relatively uncommon or even rare.
-Major aphthous ulcerations: Patients with this condition have much larger sores than usual, and these are almost always present in the mouth.
-Herpetiform ulcerations: dozens, or even hundreds, of very small aphthous ulcerations that clinically resemble a herpes infection. Based upon the location of the lesions and their recurrent pattern, a herpetic infection is easily ruled out.
-Behcet's syndrome: a rare rheumatologic (joint diease) condition, where patients not only develop mouth sores that are identical to recurrent aphthous ulcerations, but they also suffer from eye problems and similar sores in the genital area.
Because aphthous ulcers are mostly due to an overactive immune system, we use medications that tend to suppress the immune reaction. These medications are similar to cortisone, only they are much more powerful, applied only locally (topical creams or gels) to areas where the recurrent aphthous ulcerations are developing- and this is to avoid undesirable side effects of systemic steroids. The medication should be applied as a thin film at least four or five times per day at the earliest sign of the lesion development.
This method of treatment helps by either full prevention of the appearance of the lesions or by reducing healing time significantly.
Other helpful treatment options are vitaminB12, anti-inflammatory drugs, and mouth wash with chlorhexidine (an antiseptic), in addition to adequate daily oral hygiene (tooth brushing and flossing, cleaning the tongue).
RAU is not curable, but it can be maintained under control by using appropriate medication. Often the frequency of attacks can be reduced once the cycle of the ulcerations has been interrupted by the treatment. In addition, some patients seem to have fewer problems with recurrences as they grow older.
•
